Docker Container Hackathon for Modellers

Three days in Autumn/Winter 2019, for ESiWACE2 partners only

Atmosphere and ocean models are characterised by complex dependencies, external configurations, and performance requirements. The objective to containerise such software stacks is to provide a consistent environment to ensure security, portability and performance. Since the container is built only once, but then can be deployed on multiple platforms, productivity is increased. ETH Zurich will provide subsequent Docker/Shifter support for the teams to complete the containerisation of their models.

Aim of the hackathon

is to create containerised versions of Earth system models (e.g. COSMO, ICON, Nemo, OpenIFS, EC-Earth) using a Docker-compatible technology like Shifter and identify representative test cases.

This will help to evaluate performance when containers are used and which adaptions are necessary. The ported Earth system models from the hackathon are also planed to be deployed on different supercomputers (ETH Zurich) using a Docker-compatible format and collect the performance figures from the representative test cases.